


Fireteam Delta

by aristotle



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 21:04:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aristotle/pseuds/aristotle
Summary: Every so often, a Guardian will rise above and beyond what is expected of them, and evolve from heroes to legends.Jupiter-9 was not one of these Guardians.Not yet, anyways.





	Fireteam Delta

_ …and so we sing, _

_ our voices unheard. _

_ the rain will not quell our flame, _

_ and so we dance, _

_ our steps are unseen, _

_ the sun will rise again… _

\--

The tricky thing about falling to your death is, quite ironically, the fact that every once in a while, you’ll get rather lucky, or rather unlucky, and find yourself very much alive once you hit the ground.

While most people would consider this to be a rather positive thing, the dear Guardian in focus was not one of those people. You see, this particular Guardian had rather warmed up to the idea of certain death. He would never say so out loud, of course. Putting up a brave face was part of his occupation. But beneath his metal exterior, he had craved what seemed unattainable to Guardians; the cold embrace of death herself.

Ironic how these things seem to work out.

Why, you ask? Well, that’s a bit of a loaded question. One with answers you might not want just yet. Mostly because we haven't had nearly enough exposition for you to care. But a short summary should do for now.

You see, our Guardian was a Fireteam Leader, once upon a time. A Commander too. 

Impressive, I know. 

But, as the story goes with most things in this realm, everything quickly fell apart just as things seemed to be getting good. And while some may take solace in speculation, I’m afraid not even your dear narrator can pinpoint a concrete breaking point for our Guardian. You see, there have been many events in his life that most people would have a good deal of trouble recovering come. But, still, a few events stand out against the bunch.

Perhaps when Neptune’s ship went down to the Red Legion five minutes ago.

Maybe when Apollo blew up trying to take down a false deity two years ago.

Or maybe it was the many, many people he had seen fall for the final time in between the two.

Like I said; we’ll never quite know for certain.

There was always some ambiguity in whether or not he’d do it, of course; whether or not he’d finally figure out a way to cut off the light and just put one of those fancy, intricately carved weapons against the roof of his mouth and pull the trigger. Blow his circuits out, as one of his darker coworkers would put it.

Of course, when he said it, it was hyperbole. Like ‘It’s raining cats and dogs!’ or ‘We are utterly and completely fucked.’ For it could not rain cats and dogs, and most people were only ever slightly fucked.

To say the least, there was no such exaggeration in such a statement when our Guardian found the words scratching at the back of his head.

Blow your fucking circuits out.

So maybe he decided to stop fighting when he saw his ghost plummet into the broken remains of the Last City below.

Maybe he took one last look at the Traveler before he was forced off the ledge.

And maybe he let himself fall.

This scenario, strangely enough, was quite routine for him. He closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, and let the artificial adrenaline coursing through his body overload his systems and put him to sleep. He’d done it before and, if we’re being completely honest, had his Ghost not fallen to its death in front of us moments ago, the poor thing probably would’ve been more exasperated than anything. You see, our Guardian knew he couldn’t die. But he knew how to get pretty damn close.

The adrenaline overdose was his favorite method; he shut off almost completely those times. The only thing that stayed on was reserve power that kept his emotions and memories intact. Which, in itself was pretty ironic; those were essentially the two things he was really trying to nullify with such actions.

His ghost even humored him, sometimes. Let the poor boy sleep for hours, sometimes even days. There wasn’t much work for a Guardian without a fireteam, and with The Vanguard and Crucible dealing with newly risen Guardians pouring in by the hundreds, there wasn’t much demand for a glorified war machine who spoke too bluntly and drowned his sorrows in self-harm and sex.

He thought about this; this and more, as his optics slowly shut off and the fiery remains of the Last City grew as he fell to what, if he was unlucky, would be a quick and sure death.

“Oh, this is awful… awful…”

Unfortunately, he had just about the best luck on this side of the cosmos.

“Guardian…?”

No one’s home, little light.

“… Guardian…?”

His left optic flickers on. Oh, it seems he’s still got some juice in him after all. Try again.

“… Jupiter?”

\--

Something many people would find very soothing in times of trouble is a peaceful walk among nature. This, of course, is under the assumption that you’re doing so for a very soothing reason, like recreation, or perhaps simply to stay active. But most of these people would probably find these walks much less soothing when it was accompanied by the looming threat of becoming food for the local fauna as the beating drums of an extraterrestrial war lord echoed behind you.

And then you had people like Jupiter, who thought peaceful walks among nature were stupid and no fun at all regardless of the circumstances.

“We’re fucked.” Was all our Guardian said after a particularly long stretch of silence. “We are utterly and completely fucked.”

“Hush,” his Ghost responded in a broken tone, the poor soul badly damaged from the fall. “… people are depending on us.”

“No one’s depending on me.”

“They are. As much as you like to wallow in your own self-pity, you are still a Guardian. The Traveler  _ chose _ you—”

“The Traveler’s gone.”

The Traveler was not gone. Not by any definition of the word was the Traveler gone. Some better suited words to correctly describe the current state of the Traveler would be ‘restrained’ or ‘subdued’ or perhaps if one was feeling particularly quirky about it, ‘in a pickle.’

But not gone. Never gone.

Regardless, there wasn't much a Ghost could say to that as the bodies of an unfortunate group of Guardians came into view.

\--

After a few more hours of walking, a screech is heard overhead; a very regal looking avian flying above accompanies the call.

“Is that… a falcon…?” A keen observation, little light. A rather dashing one, at that.

Jupiter looked up, the dim light of his optics processing the vision before him.

When you have no place to go, nor a place to be, you find yourself following the strangest of things. Now, just days after the loss of the Solar Squadron, Jupiter finds himself without a friend in the system besides the guiding light beside him. He lets out a shaky breath, the cold air sticking in front of him, and begins the trek up a mountain, guided by the strange falcon and the primal self preservation programmed into him kicking into full gear.

Perhaps the appeal of death had worn itself out after being chased through the cold remains of Earth for seven days. Perhaps Jupiter knew deep down that somewhere, someone was counting on him. Perhaps he was simply delirious from exhaustion.

Regardless of the reason, he stepped through the thick blanket of snow, following the song of the creature lead by the light.

Jupiter may not have been the Commander he once was, but when all was said and done, he was still a Guardian. He was chosen to protect the people, and protect the people he would continue to do. Since his downfall, people have long questioned the decision of the Traveler to provide him a connection to the light. Such speculation is insulting, disrespectful, and founded on ignorance.

I do not make mistakes in my decisions, nor do I ever lose sight of those who follow my light.

I am the voice of the Traveler, and I shall be your guide through the strange tale of Jupiter and Fireteam Delta.


End file.
